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Kevin Starr

Kevin Starr Quotes

Historian

Kevin Starr was an American historian renowned for his extensive research on the history of California. His works covered a wide range of themes from the Spanish colonial period to the late 20th century, making significant contributions to the understanding of the region's history and culture.

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All California States Writing Dangerous Groups Looks Thinking Verge Victimhood Years

Famous Kevin Starr Quotes

“A city where everyone seemed to live in a bungalow on a broad avenue lined with palm, pepper or eucalyptus trees, where there was never any snow.”

Nature Cities Tree Snow Broads Palms Avenues Peppers

Book:Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era

Source: Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era

“If the Pilgrims had landed in Santa Monica Bay rather than Boston, we'd have six states out here!”

Ifs States Six Boston Santa Pilgrim Monica Santa Monica

Author:Kevin Starr

“In the luxuriance of a bowl of grapes set out in ritual display, in a bottle of wine, the soil and sunshine of California reached millions for whom that distant place would henceforth be envisioned as a sun-graced land resplendent with the goodness of the fruitful earth.”

Earth Millions Sun Land Goodness Wine California Soil Sunshine Bottles Ritual Display Bowls Grapes Bottles Of Wine

Book:Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era

Source: Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era

“I've always tried to write California history as American history. The paradox is that New England history is by definition national history, Mid-Atlantic history is national history. We're still suffering from that.”

Writing Stills Suffering England Definitions California Paradox American History New England

Author:Kevin Starr

“I like narrative, and I ultimately am in love with the men and women I write about, most of them.”

Men Writing He Man Men And Women Narrative

Author:Kevin Starr

“The Irish didn't read and write for a couple of thousand years, and I think we developed good memories and recall. We have a sense of the revelatory detail. I look for them.”

Thinking Writing Years Looks Memories Couple Thousand Details Recalls Thousand Years Good Memories

Author:Kevin Starr

“I always thought the women of my age group got short shrift because the women's liberation movement came slightly after. You look at the yearbooks and you see the future homemakers of America - hurray for that - but you also see them in the engineers club. You see minority kids as student body presidents at a time when everyone was supposed to be terminally racist. Yearbooks are genres; they're also folk art, folk documentation.”

Looks Art Body Kids Age America President Groups Movement Students Folks Clubs Supposed To Be Liberation Genre Minorities Racist Engineers Documentation Homemaker Yearbook Folk Art

Author:Kevin Starr

“I believe that's a form of dangerous stereotyping, to ascribe permanent victimhood to any group. Groups have suffered powerful injustice, and yet when you say that, you also have to say that they triumphed, that they prevailed.”

Believe Form I Believe Powerful Groups Dangerous Injustice Permanent Stereotype Victimhood

Author:Kevin Starr

“I don't reverberate to victimhood, probably because of my own life. I refused to become a victim myself, so it's not one of my big stories.”

Stories Bigs My Own Victim My Own Life Victimhood

Author:Kevin Starr

“In our public life, California is on the verge of being a failed state, and no state has failed in the history of this country.”

Country States California Public Life Verge

Author:Kevin Starr

“I think California is playing a game of brinkmanship that's very dangerous. Why is it 50 or 60 years ago we had the capacity to lay down the physical, psychological, cultural, public infrastructure of a global mega-state, and today we are on the verge of being Honduras?”

Thinking Years States Today Games Dangerous Capacity Years Ago Lays Psychological California Infrastructure Verge Mega Honduras

Author:Kevin Starr

“It's highly competitive to be here. People don't come to California to drop out anymore. It's a very striving place.”

People Strive California

Author:Kevin Starr

About the Author

Born: September 3, 1940
Died: January 14, 2017
Known for: Historian
Quotes: 12

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California States Writing Dangerous Groups Looks Thinking Verge Victimhood Years

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People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

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